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Monday, December 31, 2012

Latisha Yost came up with a great idea to have a blog hop to give away new crafty supplies. When I started looking through my stash, I realized I have *way* too many unused supplies. I'm looking forward to passing them on!

The ladies/companies below are all offering different giveaways. To enter, all you have to do is go to their blog, leave a comment, and you'll be entered.

First up is a card from the new Paper Crafts Magazine'sCreative Card Challenges issue. You can get a copy of the Creative Card Challenges HERE. There are loads of ideas in the issue!

I combined a digital journaling card (notebook paper) with the adorable professor stamp from the Paper Smooches Smarty Pants set.

The sentiment I created was based on the Pythagorean theorem. That might be the only formula I remember from geometry. Hee hee

Now for the giveaway:

It was hard to photograph with the cello, but the list is at the bottom of the post.

Here's the scoop: 1) You can leave a comment for a chance to win. 2) For a second chance, you can "follow" my blog (and leave another comment to let me know if you already follow or are a new follower).

The giveaway will end Friday, 1/4 at 11:00 PM CST, and I'll announce the winner Saturday morning. I'll pay for international shipping, too. :)

The card uses THIS amazing subway art from Dianne Rigdon at Two Peas (ETA, the Two Peas site is having problems, but you can see all Dianne's kits HERE). I added in some natural elements--burlap, a Basic Grey wooden button, and some May Arts twine. I finished the card off with some light distressing.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Hi everyone! Thank you for the sweet comments about my Moxie Fab post. The kind words made me feel all mushy inside. :)

Everyone's busy, so let's get right to it. It's time for another Play Date Cafe challenge! Here are the colors:

And here's what I came up with:

I used the stitched boxes stamp from our sponsor this week, Jenni Bowlin, like a button card. Instead of buttons, I substituted layered hearts. I printed off some digital papers from Two Peas, die cut the hearts, and sewed two hearts together for each square.

Here's a close-up of the card:

I layered some vintage sewing patterns I have to fit with the sewing theme, and finished the card off with a sentiment I made in Photoshop.

Admittedly, I found these colors hard, but it's always good to challenge yourself, right?

If you want to play along, the winner will receive a prize from Jenni Bowlin:

You can link up your creations HERE. It's a two-week challenge this time. :)

Monday, December 17, 2012

When Cath e-mailed me earlier this fall, I was so incredibly honored (and excited) to be asked. I've enjoyed reading the Moxie Fabber of the Week posts for a couple of years, and I still can't believe it's me! You can read the post HERE. Thank you so much, Cath!

I thought I would share a little card I made with some new Two Peas products:

Isn't that "LOVE" great? The sentiment and the digital patterned papers are all from Just Jaimee. I just printed the layers and popped them up with some foam tape.

If you like non-traditional Valentine's Day cards, this one would be quick and mail-able.

Here's another angle where you can see the distressing under the sentiment:

Now, how about a giveaway? Please leave a comment by Saturday (12/22), and I'll send one person a $10 gift certificate to Two Peas in a Bucket. I would love it if you follow my blog, but you don't have to for the giveaway. :)

Thanks again to Cath and for everyone's support. I may not say it often enough, but I so appreciate your comments, well-wishes, and support.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Hi Everyone! I've had a card ready to post for the past few days, but after the Newtown tragedy, I decided to hold off. Some of you regular readers may know I have a 6-year-old, and reading about what happened is hard to grasp. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected.

It's a neon hybrid card. I found out I couldn't make true neon with my computer and printer, but I got pretty close. It took about half a dozen test prints to figure out the colors.

I wanted to use 1980s patterns to match with the neon colors. Using three different Just Jaimee's digital brushes, I stamped the half-tone, paint splash, and splatter. It makes me want to pull out my crimper and dance to the Bangles. Hee hee

I created my own retro sentiment in Photoshop and angled the words. Even the font reminded me of the computer in the 1980s movie "War Games" (why do I remember these things??).

Here's a close-up:

I finished the card off with some Heidi Swapp neon washi tape.

Has anyone else tried using neon on the computer? I'd love to hear tips! Here is what I found:

Neon colors look a little scary on the computer screen. The colors look different when printed. (It took me a while to figure that out!)

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

It's busy, busy, busy here. My daughter's birthday is a few days after Christmas, and she's having a birthday party with friends a few days before Christmas. Luckily, I got most of the party planning finished last weekend. Now, just 15 favors to wrap... :)

It's time for another Play Date Cafe challenge. This week's gorgeous colors are Evergreen, Gum Drop, and Candy Cane Red:

I decided to make a non-traditional Christmas card:

In Photoshop, I stamped the Rhonna Designs ledger digital brush in pink on both the top and the bottom. Then, I created my own sentiment to match the chemistry stamps.

After printing the panel, I stamped the There She Goes flasks--they are so cute! I added the bubbles and hearts by curving stamps from the set. My coloring is rusty, but here's a close-up:

I thought this card would work well with a bottle of wine (as a gift, not to drink while you're staring at the card). With a little redesigning, the card could work as wine tag, too.

Like the colors of this week's Play Date Cafe challenge? The winner of this challenge wins a prize from Simon Says Stamps.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Anyone out there shopping for the holidays? Anyone have any suggestions for crafty items I can pass along to my hubby?

It's time for another Play Date Cafe challenge. Here are this week's colors:

Isn't that a pretty combination? I am in love with the image in the top left, and almost made a card like that. Instead, I came up with this super clean and simple card:

I love that large Solid Poppy stamp. I simply did a little rock-and-roll inking on it and used the same darker blue for the Swissgirl sentiment. This sentiment set is so cool...I used it for THIS card, too.

Want to play along? This week's winner receives a gift certificate to ScrapbookPal.com:

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Hi! Last week at Two Peas, Polka Dot Pixels released a series of digital chalkboard elements. I always love seeing the new releases, but I was positively giddy when I saw her new Chalked Journaling Title Cards. I love the old-timey fonts and scroll work....just like title cards in silent movies. (*squeal*)

I was so excited to start playing with them, and the timing was perfect for this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge. It's Color Splash time with the color maroon:

Using the journaling cards and these colors, I made a set of Christmas cards:

I'd love to say I pulled off Betsy Veldman-style stamping on these (like she did HERE), but the sentiments are the digital Chalked Journaling Cards.

I simply enlarged each journaling card, printed them, matted them on a piece of white cardstock, and adhered them to chevron paper. Other than spending a ridiculous amount of time deciding which shade of red chevron paper to use for the background (insert eye roll here), I made the set of cards in no time.

Here are four of the cards:

I think I'll be making more of these as last-minute Christmas cards... hee hee

Want to play along with this week's PDCC Color Splash? The winner will win a prize from the PDCC Prize Vault. You can link up your project HERE.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Hello, hello! For all my American friends, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I'm back from a trip to Hershey, and had a blast. Well, maybe not the work part, but it was great seeing my mom and oldest brother and visiting the Hershey Factory. The chocolate upon chocolate was cool and yet almost absurd--very Wonka-ish (minus Slugworth). Of course, I loved how over-the-top it was.

This little guy cracks me up! This card is all-digital. I started with a Splendid Fiins' digital journaling card (the stick figure and speech bubble), enlarged it, recolored the background, and created my own sentiment.

I wanted to mention that I have a link to my Twitter and Pinterest accounts on the sidebar. You can click on the Twitter to see Elvis in my craft room (you know you want to see him!).

If you haven't had a chance to link up yet, The Play Date Cafe two-week challenge ends on Tuesday night. You can see the post HERE.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Next week I'll be traveling to Pennsylvania for work, but since I only have a few hours of work, I decided to extend the trip a couple of days and take my daughter. My mom is driving down to meet us, too. We're planning on going to the Hershey Factory. It's been about 10 years since I've been there, but I loved the Wonka-ness of the place. I'm really looking forward to seeing my daughter's face when she sees all the chocolate (well, maybe I'm looking forward to a little chocolate also. ;).

It's time for another Play Date Cafe challenge, and this one is a 2 week challenge. Here are this week's colors:

I loved those fingerless gloves (they wouldn't work in South Dakota, but I love how they look). It reminded me of a coffee cozy I saw a while ago (sorry I can't remember who to credit for this idea!). I used one of my husband's wool socks to make this cozy:

I started by cutting off the ribbed cuff of a wool sock. I stitched over the edges with some felt ric-a-rac to keep the edges from fraying. Yes, the hand stitching is atrocious....I was obviously paying more attention to the TV show I was watching. Seriously, though, I think a little adhesive would help when stitching through the heavy ribbing of the sock.

I die cut the white label and pink heart from Stamp School wool felt and added the same "homespun" stitching on the heart. The circle is digital paper from the "I Wanna Be" collection at Two Peas. Here's a close-up:

I slipped the cozy over a travel coffee cup just to show you how it looks. Other than the stitching, the project came together very quickly. Now I'm looking at my kids' sweaters to see what kinds of cuffs they have...

I also make a hybrid card to go with the coffee cozy:

I started by layering portions of the chevron papers from the same "I Wanna Be" collection. I printed the image along with a pink solid and green with grey hearts paper from the same collection. I die cut the same pink felt I used on the cozy.

For the arrows, the veneer arrow wasn't long enough, so I used two different arrows and covered them with the heart. I finished the card off with a Waltzingmouse sentiment. Here's a close-up:

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

I hope you're having a good week! This week, I led my daughter's Brownie troop to get their "I Love Scrapbooking" badge. I think I may have to steal the badge from her, although they need an "I Love Paper Crafting" badge (hee hee). I spent a solid hour die cutting pieces for two cards, and some of the girls finished their cards in 10 minutes. If only I could craft that fast. ;) It was so much fun to work with the girls.

To make this card, I simply stamped the sentiment with the digital brush and selectively recolored portions. I tried a couple of other techniques with the sentiment, but ultimately, I liked the highly graphic look. I don't think I need a close-up of this card since it's pretty clear-cut. ;)

Want to play along with this week's Cafe challenge? This week, we're being sponsored by Simon Says Stamps, and the winner will win a gift certificate from them:

You can make anything for the challenge...a card, a layout, a tag, fabric creations, baked products (seriously! I'd love to see that!)....anything goes as long as it uses the colors. You can link up HERE.

At each blog, there will be part of a code. At the end of the hop, you will have the complete code that will allow you access to the fabulous collaboration FREEBIE in the Two Peas store.

We each used the Reflection collaboration kit to make projects, and I decided I would try and make a project using an element from as many of the Designers as I could (yes, I like a challenge). I ended up creating a fall card with the various patterned papers:

I started with the background, resizing the light blue paper and stamping the Hero Arts brush in charcoal grey. Next, I cropped, resized and printed several patterned papers, and because you might see the underside of the leaves, I printed a different patterned papers on the backside. I die cut the leaves four times to layer them. Here's a peek of the layering of the leaves:

I did a little distressing with scissors, and a bunch of stitching through the elements. All of the leaves were inked with inks, and I finished the card off by adding a couple of banner strips under the sentiment. Here's the other close-up of the leaf:

I managed to include 8 different patterned papers on the card...that may be a record for me. :)

The Reflection Kit is only available free for a limited time, so be sure to hop and write down the letters for the code. The part of my code is "P." I hope you enjoy the kit!

In addition to the freebie, there are several challenges over at the Two Peas Digital Blog, and each one gives you a chance to win a gift certificate for the Two Peas store.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Last week, I received a very happy e-mail from Holly at Paper Crafts Magazine, telling me I was one of the winners of their World Card Making Day contest! I was giddy, shocked, honored, and a little choked-up over the news. Yeah! I'm still on a high over the news (or maybe it's the two pounds of candy I'm eating while passing out treats for Halloween). Thank you so much, Paper Crafts!!

My card was for the Love category, and I had my son in mind when I made it. :) I can't show the card, but I thought I would share another card I made for Two Peas recently:

I used digital patterned papers from Adrienne Looman and fussy cut the roses from one of the papers (I resized the roses to make them larger). Before I layered the elements, I misted the background with some green metallic spray mist. I do love that little bit of metallic.

I trimmed some leaves and die cut more papers for layering. The great sentiment is from SwissGirl Designs. Here's a close-up:

As a thank you, I thought I would do a Paper Crafts giveaway. Please leave a comment on this post by Sunday night, and I'll send one random commenter a copy of the new Paper Crafting Tips and Tricks issue.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween (and Happy Day of the Dead)! It's been a crazy week--both kids have been sick but with different illnesses. But, I'm thankful that's all. My thoughts go out to all those affected by Sandy.

I did manage to make a card for this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge. This week's colors are Cinnamon, Squash, Sage, Vanilla:

We were all sent stamps from DRS Designs. The stamps are unmounted red rubber, and they stamped beautifully. This week's digital challenge at Two Peas in a Bucket is to use orange, which worked great for this week's PDCC colors. I got the cutest elephant ever from DRS Designs, and I used him to make this card:

I started by printing some digital papers from Truman Studio's new Fall Days papers. Then, I paper pieced Jungle Jim the Elephant onto the squash paper and used some older My Mind's Eye to paper piece her nails (I'd say his nails, but the nails look more girly to me :). Here's a close-up:

I partially stamped the sentiment from DRS on the (slightly distressed) patterned paper. I die cut some of the Fall Days papers and added a bunch of stitching to finish it off.

If you like the colors and want to play along, DRS Designs is offering a prize to this week's winner.

You can enter your project HERE. While you're there, be sure to say "thanks" to Amy Tsuruta and Connie Mercer, the Private Blend Designers, as this is their last week. They were awesome teammates!

If you'd like to enter the Two Peas Digital Challenge for this week, you can find the details HERE.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Happy Thursday! I hope you're having a good week. This morning I'm volunteering in my daughter's class for the first time. Luckily, she's still young enough that she's excited to have me come to her class and not embarrassed about it. ha ha

Isn't her hat to-die-for? Love it! This week, we're sponsored by Technique Tuesday. I used the Think Vacation stamps by Teri Anderson to make this "beachy" card:

I stamped the little beach scene from the Think Vacation set, added some patterned paper below, and then added a mixture of sand (out of my kids' sand and water table) and gold glitter flakes to look like a tiny island. I thought the glitter made the sand look a little more gold, but now I can't decide if the mixture looks like an island or like dirt. ha ha. Here's a close-up:

I added some sponging to the borders and the sun, distressing, and sewing to give the card a more rustic look.